(Posted November 18, 2002)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Before Andy Warhol painted Campbell's Soup cans and created silkscreen portraits of Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe, the Pittsburgh-born artist was a commercial illustrator and artist in Pittsburgh and New York City in the 1950s. Every year, clients would commission Christmas-themed artwork and these holiday images from his early career are the focus of "Happy Warholidays," an art exhibit at the Juniata College Museum of Art, which runs from Nov. 22 to Feb. 21, 2003.

A reception for the exhibition will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 22 at the museum. The reception is free and open to the public.

In addition, the lecture "Restoration and Preservation of Warhol's Work," by Wendy Bennett, a conservator at The Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, will be at 6:15 p.m., Friday, Nov. 22 in the Neff Lecture Hall in the von Liebig Center for Science on the Juniata campus.

The objects and art on display in the exhibit are eclectic examples of Warhol's work as a graphic artist. Included in the exhibit are Christmas cards he designed for Tiffany's, holiday graphics, personal drawings ranging from elves to poinsettias, and religious images such as Madonna and Child art works.

Some of Warhol's techniques and color choices, such as the use of repetitive stamped images and bold, bright colors are links to the emergence of the style of Warhol's later Pop Art work. Andy Warhol first came to prominence as an artist by painting advertising images such as soup cans or soap products. He also used photographic images from newspapers and magazines to create prints and silk-screened works that show repeated images of car accidents and other subjects.

By employing mass-production techniques to create art, Warhol helped blur the line between fine art and popular culture.

The exhibit is on loan from The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pa. The museum's permanent collection is comprised of more than 4,000 works of art by Andy Warhol, including, paintings, prints, films and sculpture.

The Juniata College Museum of Art is located in historic Carnegie Hall at 17th and Moore streets in Huntingdon. Museum hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. For more information, please call the museum at (814) 641-3505, or visit the Juniata College Web site at http://www.juniata.edu/museum.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.